Hackathon plan for smart policing solutions in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: The commissionerate police is planning to organise a hackathon to find digital solutions to major policing problems in the state capital. It has partnered with the state electronics and information technology (E&IT) department and software technology parks of India (STPI) to launch the maiden hackathon in the next few weeks.
"We have dubbed the project as Innovative and Novel Technology Enabled Reforms through Smart Contest for Efficient Policing & its Transformation (INTERCEPT). The objective behind the smart policing hackathon is to invite solutions from innovators, entrepreneurs, startups and students to come up with products through technology and provide innovative solutions for efficient policing," additional commissioner of police Uma Shankar Dash said.
The participants would be asked to work on solutions for cyber fraud detection, traffic control management, monitoring and regulating road transport, creation of women safety and citizen protection devices, smart handling of law and order situation, biometrics and voice technology, fitness tracker for police personnel, police protection devices, police vehicle monitoring and management and criminal identification.
"We will also look for digital solutions to identify criminals and unruly mob through multiple video analysis, creation of sensor-based artificial intelligence (AI) identification to know the exact time spent by complainants in police stations, drone surveillance to detect unauthorised flying objects, social media monitoring, ATM security, exit point detection of criminals and identification and prevention of drug trading," Dash said.
Officials of the commissionerate police, E&IT department and STPI held a preparatory meeting on the proposed hackathon here on Thursday. The winning solution would be implemented to strengthen the policing system in Bhubaneswar. Besides the winner, prizes will be given to first and second runners-up as well. The winners may get an opportunity to pilot their products for commercialization. They may also get a platform for joint R&D with industry and academia.
The hackathon is a contest where students, innovators, startups and researchers from across the country would be invited to work on specific problems related to policing and build digital solutions to cater to the problem areas.
Police said though the hackathon would be a competitive platform for youngsters to exhibit their skills and technical know how, it will also be their social responsibility to work for a safe and secure society.